By Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon’s minimum wage varies based on location. On July 1, the state’s standard minimum wage will rise to $14.70 per hour. The minimum wage in the Portland metro area is $1.25 above standard and will increase to $15.95 per hour. The wage in nonurban counties is $1 below standard and will go up to $13.70 per hour.
Oregon is also one of nine states that outlaw tip credits. That means workers who receive tips, such as bartenders, baristas and servers at restaurants, must be paid at least the minimum hourly amount on top of tips brought home.
Last year, state officials began indexing the minimum wage rate to the consumer price index as calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. It tracks how much prices are going up on typical household expenses like rent, groceries and fuel. Nationwide the consumer price index is up more than 3% over the last year.
“Indexing the minimum wage to inflation aims to ensure the wages of Oregon workers keep pace with the economic realities they face,” writes Bureau of Labor and Industries officials in an announcement about the increase. “Wage increases, particularly for those at the bottom of the income spectrum, have far-reaching benefits. They increase community level economic activity and support local businesses.”
Since the early 1990s, Oregon has had a higher minimum wage than federal law. If a state amount is different from the federal rate, the worker is owed the larger amount. The federal minimum has been set at $7.25 per hour for the last 15 years.
Oregon’s employment department hasn’t released its wage analysis for 2023 yet, but at the end of 2022 just over 4% of the state’s more than 2.2 million jobs paid minimum wage. The average hourly wage in Oregon was $31.17 in 2022.
